Successful author VG Lee shares a few tidbits of life behind the scenes, in the second of our author profiles.
What's your first memory of enjoying reading?
My grandmother had a pictorial copy of Pilgrim's Progress - four drawings on each page with writing underneath. I remember at some point finding the writing of more interest than the illustrations.
What are you currently reading?
Empire Falls but Richard Russo. I read a collection of his short stories on holiday this year and loved his writing.
Which character you've created/written do you wish you could spend a day as?
Mrs Botolph in my first novel, The Comedienne. She is the old friend of the main character's mother and is very bossy and gets things done!
Which character that someone else has written do you wish you could spend a day as?
Hmm. As a child I wanted to be Katie in the What Katie Did series. Can't think of anyone I'd like to be in a more recent novel.
Have you created any characters you don't like?
Not really. I have created characters that I like but aren't necessarily meant to be liked by the reader!
What was the first thing you ever wrote that made you think, "I want to be a writer"?
Just a few pages about going to see 'Perchance to Dream' with my mum and aunty at The Connaught Theatre in Worthing. I sort of knew that I'd captured them with affection and thought I might be able to do it again.
Do you edit as you go or as a full process after a first draft?
I do both: edit as I go along all the time and then again after each of many drafts.
Where do you write? And what do you need around you?
It's a bit like sleeping, I can do it anywhere. Best times are when I wake up in the morning but often on a train when I have set myself a deadline I'll work.
Pen and paper, typewriter or computer?
I always start with pen and paper. I have notebooks piled high and full. At least first draft, sometimes second before I move on to typing it up.
Keep up to date with VG Lee
My website is www.vglee.co.uk (currently being updated).
Watch VG Lee reading from a work in progress, her next novel, Mr Oliver
If you want to buy any of VG's excellent novels and books, find her on Amazon:
The Comedienne, Always you, Edina, Diary of a Provincial Lesbian, The Woman in Beige (only available on 'new & used') and short story collection, As You Step Outside.
